This Week in White County History, September 12-18

 1972 

• Annelle Hickey was sworn in as White County’s first female sheriff. Ann B. Hill became the county’s first female constable.
• A fire that started at East Sparta School in a wastebasket in a restroom gave students quite a scare. However, firefighters put out the blaze with no injuries and very little damage.
• Col. Clarence O. Light, stationed in Ethiopia, presented Glenda Powell, who was also in Ethiopia with her husband Capt. Powell, with the Queen of Sheba Award for unselfish and faithful volunteer work in the interest of community betterment.

1982

• White County Legislative Body elected Bill Whiteaker as its chairman and appointed Bill Cowden chairman pro-tem.
• Work began on the Town Creek sewer interceptor line, a nearly $1 million project to open up land on Highway 111 for commercial and industrial development.
• For the first time in 22 years, the Hutchings and Yates families got together at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Claude E. Yates, of Doyle.

1992 

• White County was evaluated by a statewide committee in hopes of being named a Three-Star Community. The designation would give the county top priority in industrial recruitment in the state.
• Construction began on the road leading into the new industrial park.
• Robert Hudgens, the only living chartered member of the Sparta Rotary Club, which was chartered in the 1930s, was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Award.

2002

• A monument was erected in honor of Bluegrass legend Lester Flatt, in downtown Sparta.
• Tommy Morrison, a former heavyweight boxing champion and actor, relocated to Sparta to ‘settle down in a big cabin in the country.’
• White County Community Hospital sponsored a senior health fair where senior citizens received healthcare screenings and a variety of information on services available to them. Hundreds of citizens from White County and the surrounding area attended, and the event was packed to capacity.

2012

• Gary Sparkman was re-elected to the school board by the community and, after signing another code of ethics, promptly re-elected by his peers as chairman of the board. The board also unanimously approved Ed Cantrell as vice-chair, a position previously held by Becky Tubb who retired from the board, leaving the seat open for appointment.
• More than 400 runners descended on the Voyles’ farm, on Cantrell Road, in Cassville as the Voyles family held the third annual Backyard Invite Cross-Country Race in honor of the late Markie Voyles.
• Girl Scout Troop 1468 dedicated their efforts to saving animals as they collected supplies to donate to the White County Animal Shelter. The girls decorated barrels and placed them at local businesses to collect donations that they then gave to Friends of White County Animals and White County Animal Shelter.